


On Names

by Scott_Paladin



Category: Outstanding! (Podcast), Protean City Comics (Podcast)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25846174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scott_Paladin/pseuds/Scott_Paladin
Summary: On his first day at PCOY, Max is still settling in and trying to figure out how to be "one of the kids".
Kudos: 4





	On Names

Maximus surveyed his new domain: several square feet of mattress, slightly threadbare and stained. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with all this space.

His new cagemate was setting the last of the bed’s former occupants, a milk crate of scavenged circuit boards, onto a pair of old computer towers next to his desk. “Are you sure that’s enough? I can probably get rid of some of this stuff if you want some of the actual room.”

Maximus walked to the edge of the bed and gave the room a quick scan. Save for the newly cleared bunk bed, there was not a single horizontal surface that was not tightly packed with technical or scientific stuff. He briefly considered the offer. He’d been quietly shocked that his claim on the whole bed had been honored, and he was just a little bit curious to see if he could push it. But he was already spoiled for space and if the boy actually went through on his offer, Maximus knew he’d end up feeling guilty about it.

The boy was saying. “It’s really no trouble.” It was obviously quite a lot of trouble.

“Thanks, but no need, Raymond. I’m good.”

"You can call me Ray if you want.” The boy adjusted his glasses. “Can I call you Max?”

Mousey ears twitched and Maximus cocked his head slightly. He’d only just got this name and someone was already asking to change it. His core told him to just say yes, but things were different now. People were actually talking to him, asking him things and listening to the answer. He chewed on the question for a moment. “It says Maximus on my stuff. If I say yes, can I just change that or I do have to get new stuff?”

Ray blinked for a second. Then some mental transmission slipped into a new gear. “Well, it’s a nickname. Like, my name is actually Raymond Ramirez, but that’s kind of long to say every time. So people call me just by my first name, Raymond, but that’s still a bit long to say every time. So it’s cool if you call me Ray.”

The little brown expression at the top of the bed was still blank confusion. Maximus wasn’t sure where this was going.

Ray tried a different tact. “Like, what’s your last name?”

This was an easy one. “Maximus.”

“I thought that was your first name.”

“First, last. I’ve only got the one so far.” Maximus nodded. “But if I can get another, I’ll take it.”

Ray laughed. “So, ‘Max’ is good?”

Max nodded enthusiastically. “Max is good.”

* * *

It had taken a long time to get to sleep. Everything was so foreign. The fabric of the bed sheets felt strange. The smell in the air was so full of humans and near humans. The walls were so far away, ominous out there in the distance. After an excruciating stretch of time, simultaneously exhausted and with his heart pounding, Maximus had tried seemingly every position he could think of. Finally, he’d crawled under the pillow, curled into the tightest ball he could, and slipped into a light slumber.

The knock at the door was very light. Tentative. In the clear light of day, it would have sounded embarrassed with itself. It startled Max from his sleep so suddenly that he sent the pillow rocketing against this ceiling, where it made a “thwap” noise and split a seam.

Ray was already on his feet in the middle of the room, now frozen mid step, shoulders hunched up around his ears. He looked sheepishly up at the top bunk. “Sorry if we woke you, buddy,” he whispered. “I think that’s Mar.”

“It’s..” Max took two deep breaths and reminded himself where he was and where he was not. Not anymore. “It’s fine. No worries. I’m good.”

Ray tiptoed over to the door of their room and opened it. The silhouette almost completely filled the frame, a spiky sail brushing against the doom jam. “Hey,” the voice from the figure was soft and gentle, “I was just checking to see if you want to…” The boy trailed off and flexed the fingers of one hand as he glanced down the hallway.

“Yeah, bro,” Ray said, “of course. Hey Max,” he turned back to the bed, “do you wanna go watch the Lightshow Show?”

Maximus considered this. He’d been asked a lot of questions the last few days, almost none of which he fully understood. And this was a good example of that. But he liked the idea of ‘watching’ something and, with his heart racing again, he probably wasn’t getting back to sleep at any rate. Most importantly, he very much liked the idea of being included with the PCOY kids.

“Yes.” He hopped down off his bunk and scurried over to the other boys. “Count me in!”

They snuck downstairs together to the big room with all the chairs and the big screen. Max was shocked to see what seemed like a whole crowd forming. Along with Ray and Marlin, there were half a dozen other kids. Max didn’t know any names yet, but he tried his best to memorize the faces. 

Ray went straight for the TV, jabbing at the controls quickly. The screen came alive and showed the text “TIME LOCKED” in blue letters on it. An older boy, bigger than Ray and wearing a shirt with a lot of writing on it, chuckled and gave Ray a tap on the shoulder.

“Better hurry up,” he said. “It’s about to start.”

“I’ve got it, Cesaro.” Ray said, giving the buttons a couple of final taps. The text on the screen disappeared and was replaced with the image of a man in a colorful suit with very white teeth. He was speaking very rapidly.

“-ve you or someone you love been victim of supervilliany? You could be entitled to a cash settlement. Call 1-800…”

The screen went dark again with a pop. A thin line appeared on it, perfectly still for a moment. It began to wiggle and jump as a voice spoke. “I have taken control of your TV set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. I control the horizontal. I control the vert…”

Cesaro rolled his eyes and interrupted the voice. “It’s just us, Ben.”

The voice stopped for a pregnant pause then sighed. “Kids, it’s really late. If Sage figures out you’re down here, she’ll flip.”

Raymond piped in. “I have calculated that if we keep the volume below 23 and mute during commercials, the noise in the nearest bedroom will not exceed 40 decibels. That’s so quiet; no one will wake up.”

The voice made a frustrated little noise. “Who all is down there?”

Ray scanned the room. “Me, Cesaro, Olalla, Marlin, Roberta, Ellis and Elliot, Promise and the new kid.”

Max did a little mental math and realized ‘the new kid’ meant him. A little firework of pride went off in his chest.

The voice on the screen, Ben, sounded resigned. “Since it’s not a school night, you can watch two episodes. Then it’s back to bed. Deal?” There was a general murmur that these terms were acceptable. “OK, and if Sage does find out. You all are on your own. We never talked. Got it?”

Cesaro was the one to respond. “No honor among thieves, we know.”

“OK,” Ben said, “have fun.”

The screen flipped back to life again, but now the image was a splashy, flashing logo. Emblazoned across the screen in neon letters:

THE LIGHTSHOW SHOW 

Starring

LIGHTSHOW

Somewhere in Max’s brain, something clicked.

* * *

  
  


An hour later, Max and Ray were back in their room. The questions had started the moment the TV had been turned off for the night and continued all the way up the stairs and down the hall. What was that? Who was that? Why did they do that?

What was a hero?

Max sat on the edge of his bunk, eyes locked on Ray as the larger boy squirmed. “A hero,” Ray stared, “it’s like somebody who saves other people, right? Like how Lightshow saved the city from that alien guy.”

“So a hero is someone with power.” Max’s expression and tone was deathly serious.

“Sometimes.” Ray rubbed the back of his neck. “But not all heroes have powers and not everyone with powers is a hero. Like the alien guy could grow really big, but he was trying to hurt people.”

Max nodded. “A hero saves people. A hero has the power to save people.”

“And uses it.” Ray nodded back.

“And this really happens? That wasn’t a simulation or exercise?”

“Uhhh,” Ray hesitated, “that’s sort of complicated. The show we watched tonight is sorta fake, but Lightshow is a real hero. He goes out and, like, stops actual bad guys. They just don’t film that. They sorta make up what’s on the show. But there are other real superheroes too. Like the Old Guard.”

Max’s ears perked. “I think I know them.”

Behind his glasses, Ray blinked. “You know them? Like, from the news or…”

Max was slightly bouncing up and down with excitement. “There was a robot, and someone in armor, and a grey one with three arms. They were there.”

Raymond opened his mouth but stopped before saying anything more. Max could already feel the next question hanging in the air. But after a moment, it didn’t come. 

Finally, it was Max who broke the silence. “I really liked the one in the armor.”

“That’s Centurion. The Old Guard is maybe my favorite group. They used to have a member, Dr. Cybil Morris.“ He picked an old cell phone off his desk and brought it to life, tapping something into the screen. “She’s a scientist like me.”

He flipped the phone around and showed a picture to Max. A white mouse, standing on her hind legs, wearing a lab coat and spectacles. Max could feel his nose start to twitch. His voice was quiet, reverent. “Dr. Cybil Morris.”

“Yeah,” Ray said smiling. “She’s really cool.”

“I can tell.” Max’s own smile could be heard as he spoke.

After they went back to bed, Max still had trouble getting to sleep. But this time it wasn’t the restless discomfort he felt before. Now his mind raced. Maximus was a good name to start with but he was going to need at least one more.

And he was going to need a shield.


End file.
